How to Meditate: Centring Prayer

Centring Prayer is a form of meditation that has a more spiritual meaning than many other types of meditation. Mindfulness, body scans, watching the breath, and even vipassana can all be practised without focusing on spirituality at all. They’re all great ways to learn to concentrate and discipline the mind.

Centring prayers are a feature of many religious practices, but you don’t have to be religious to do this meditation. All you’ll need is a spiritual text that you find personally inspiring. Choose one word from this text as the focus of your meditation. This can be a word you find particularly inspiring or one you feel is sacred to you. As you meditate on this word, you are inviting the sacred into your life to provide guidance and support.

Benefits:

Reconnects you with the sacred

Provides a focus for your spiritual practice

Balances out society’s focus on materialism

Balances your emotions

Calms your mind and heart

Practise this meditation when you feel disconnected from life and need to feel the presence of something greater moving through your life.

Centring Prayer

Choose a spiritual text that inspires you. Read the text and notice if one word particularly resonates with you – like God, Buddha, Jesus, love, peace, etc. Use this word as the focus of your meditation and intention to open your life to the sacred.

Sit in meditation on a cushion or chair, and close your eyes. Think of the word you have chosen. Breathe slowly and allow the word to fill your being. This is similar to meditating on a mantra like Om, only the word in this case has personal significance to you.

If thoughts intrude, gently bring your focus back to the sacred word. Continue to meditate for 20 minutes, or however long feels right to you.

At the end of the session, sit in silence for a few moments and feel the effects of the prayer on your body, emotions and mind.

You may like to re-read your chosen spiritual text at the end of the session and allow the teachings to penetrate to the core of your being.